Glossary · Climate

Climate normals

Also called: 1991–2020 normals · 30-year normals · Canadian Climate Normals

Thirty-year averages of temperature, degree-days, precipitation and other weather at a station, used as the typical climate for a place.

What it means

Weather agencies update normals each decade: Environment and Climate Change Canada's current set covers 1991–2020. Calculators and audit reports use them for typical heating and cooling degree-days, so one unusual year doesn't skew the estimate. Some Canadian figures still come from the older 1981–2010 normals.

Why it matters in an audit

When a page says a city gets about 4,000 heating degree-days a year, that's a climate normal, so your own year can run colder or warmer.

Typical numbers

Reference values with their sources. Your energy advisor’s report gives the figure for your own house.

What	Value	Source
Canada (ECCC)	1991–2020 is the current set; ECCC also publishes 1981–2010 and earlier periods back to 1931–1960	climate.weather.gc.ca ↗

Sources

Related terms

Heating degree days (HDD) A measure of how cold a place is: each day adds how far its average temperature falls below 18°C. More degree-days means more heating.
Cooling degree days (CDD) A measure of how hot a place is: each day adds how far its average temperature rises above 18°C. More degree-days means more cooling.
Design temperature The cold (or hot) outdoor temperature a heating or cooling system is sized for; colder than most winter days, but not the record low.
Weather normalization Adjusting energy use for how cold or hot a period was, using degree-days, so bills from different years or homes can be compared fairly.
ECCC (Environment and Climate Change Canada) The federal environment department, which took over NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency, including home energy programs, on July 30, 2026.

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